NCJ Number
202032
Journal
Domestic Violence Report Volume: 8 Issue: 5 Dated: June/July 2003 Pages: 68,77
Date Published
June 2003
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This article reviews a previous study of the role stalking plays in domestic violence cases.
Abstract
This article reports on a 1998 study by Patricia Tjaden and Nancy Thoennes, in which they examined the model Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team (DVERT) program of the Colorado State Police Department (CSPD). DVERT provides a multi-disciplinary system response to domestic violence cases that have a high risk for lethality. The researchers examined 1,785 Domestic Violence Summons and Complaint (DVSC) forms used by the department to investigate domestic violence reports. One of the issues the researchers examined was the role that stalking played in the cases and in the responses of the CSPD. They found that only 1 of the 1,785 cases involved an arrest for stalking behavior. Moreover, only 285 of the reports mentioned stalking behavior at all, and in only 35 of the cases did the victim or the officer actually use the word “stalking.” The article suggests that the DVSC reports undercount the prevalence of stalking behavior since the victims were not explicitly questioned about stalking during the interview process. Further results revealed that there were few differences in the way officers handled cases involving stalking. One implication of this research is that far more police education regarding stalking is needed. Although not overtly identified by the researchers, the author asserts that the research findings in this case are consistent with reports made by women that police are reluctant to do much in stalking cases without a restraining order.